11.28.08
7:30 a.m. CST Friday, Nov. 28, 2008
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
STATUS REPORT: STS-126-28
STS-126 MCC STATUS REPORT #28
It’s undocking day. The space shuttle Endeavour and its
seven-astronaut crew are scheduled to leave the International Space
Station at 8:47 a.m. CST.
Endeavour crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and
Mission Specialists Don Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie
Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff, spent the
night separated from their station colleagues, Commander Mike Fincke
and Flight Engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandra Magnus. Hatches
between the two vehicles were closed at 6:31 p.m. Thursday.
Shuttle crew members were awakened at 4:55 a.m. Friday with “In the
Meantime,” by Spacehog. It was for Boe.
Undocking operations will begin about an hour before the separation of
the spacecraft. Boe, with help from Ferguson and other crew members,
will be at the controls when Endeavour leaves Pressurized Mating
Adaptor 2 where it docked at 4:01 p.m. Nov. 16.
Latches will be released and springs will push the shuttle about two
feet ahead of the station. Boe will pilot Endeavour to a point about
450 feet ahead of the station, then, at about 9:15 a.m., begin a
flyaround. He will keep the cargo bay facing the orbiting laboratory
so cameras there can document its condition. The shuttle will leave
the area at about 11:15 a.m.
During more than 11 days of docked operations, Endeavour delivered
equipment that will help allow the station to double its crew size to
six. The gear included two sleep stations, a new galley, a water
recovery system and an advanced resistive exercise device. Astronauts
also did four spacewalks. Among their accomplishments were cleaning,
lubricating and installing new bearing assemblies on the starboard
Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. It subsequently seemed to function well
during a two-orbit test.
The standard late inspection of Endeavour’s thermal protection system,
using the shuttle’s robotic arm and its Orbital Boom Sensor System
extension, is scheduled this afternoon. Boe, Pettit and Kimbrough are
to begin that survey about 12:45 p.m. The Kennedy Space Center
landing is scheduled for Sunday at 12:19 p.m. CST.
The crew is scheduled to go to bed at 7:55 p.m. The next shuttle
status report will be issued at the end of the crew day, or earlier
if events warrant.
-end-